Canada Qualifying Round 7

Magnussen unable to take part in Qualifying

Near the end of practise 3 today, Renault’s Kevin Magnussen crashed heavily into the barriers at turn 7. Magnussen went to put on the power, he lost control of his car and was quickly shunted into the wall. That brought the end of the session which saw Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel quickest. Magnussen will start at the back of the grid spare chassis after damaging several parts of his car.

Q1

Clouds cover the circuit and some drivers are taking two laps to warm up their tyres and set their lap. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen sets the banker lap of a 1:18:550. Nico Rosberg then goes quicker on a 1:14:001. He then comes round again and smashes his personal best and sets a 1:13:714. With 4 minutes to go the session, the gap from 11th to 16th is very close to being put in the drop zone. With 2 minutes and 10 seconds to go, Manor’s Rio Haryanto hits the wall at turn 4 and has a right rear puncture. He trundles round the circuit and comes to a halt at a marshal post on the long back straight. Nico Rosberg end the session quickest ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo.

Q2

Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg sets the bench mark time of a 1:17:808. With 12 minutes to go, Carlos Sainz has hit the “wall of champions” and has brought out the red flag. The session is stopped at 11:52 minutes to go. The marshals and the recovery truck clear up the debris and Torro Rosso car. The session is started again and Lewis Hamilton posts the quickest lap time of a 1:13:076. The final laps are in and a small lock up for McLaren Honda’s Jenson Button going into turn 10 costs him a Q3 appearance. Lewis Hamilton ends the session quickest ahead of Nico Rosberg and Daniel Ricciardo.

Q3

Red Bulls Daniel Ricciardo sets the first competitive lap of a 1:13:521. Lewis Hamilton comes round and beats Ricciardo’s lap and goes quickest on a 1:12:812. Hamilton leads from Nico Rosberg, Max Verstappen Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo. Cars are in the pits preparing for their final runs but Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa are out on track, out of sync and posting their times. The final runs are in and Vettel improves to 3rd, Ricciardo beats Verstappen to 4th and Rosberg’s messy final run can’t top Hamilton’s lap.